Closing Arguments In Pa. Voter ID Law Challenge Set For Thursday

(A sign outside a Penndot office advertises the availability of voter ID cards which the law, later overturned, would have required on Election Day. File photo by John Ostapkovich)

(File photo by John Ostapkovich)

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — Closing arguments in the challenge to Pennsylvania’s voter ID law have been postponed until Thursday. Meanwhile, lawyers for the commonwealth have moved to dismiss the case.

After several hours of wrangling over analysis of data pertaining to how many voters were unable to obtain proper ID prior to last year’s election, the judge postponed closing arguments until Thursday.

Meanwhile, attorney Alicia Hickok says the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, challenging the plaintiffs’ standing in the case.

“There’s organization petitioners as to which they’ve put in no evidence, and there are individuals they haven’t updated since they filed their amended pleading. So there’s no evidence that they’ve put on to demonstrate standing,” Hickok says.

But Vic Walczak, an ACLU attorney, says the organizations joining the lawsuit were indeed harmed by the new law.

“We still have voters who have not received their ID, and we have organizations that have been required because of this law to devote resources,” Walczak tells KYW Newsradio. Among the revisions to the original measure was a provision that allows nursing homes and assisted living facilities to create voter ID cards for their own residents.

The judge indicated he would review the motion to dismiss the case.

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Tony Romeo is Harrisburg bureau chief for KYW Newsradio 1060.
Born and raised in the Harrisburg area, Romeo began his professional career at age 18, while in college at Penn State Harrisburg. He was still a college student when ...